This is the plane on which this discussion needs to proceed. There are contradictions, that's why I have spent a while replying. I just don't think that they lie at the point where you are making the call.
First, you support British entry into the Euro. Aside from it's short-term benefits to British manufacturing and long-term benefits to travellers changing their money, I don't see too much good about it. For a start, you would lose control over your monetary policy and be tied even tighter to ECB borrowing and spending limits. The ECB itself is run by avowedly monetarist economists who are more concerned with sustaining current levels of exploitation than with addressing problems like unemployment. While the British Government is currently more right wing than the EU, that may not be the situation in 5 of 10 years time. Besides any left opposition can still make credible arguments based on monetary flexibility right now (I can't see the ECB backing down to Keynesians?). Once you go into EMU it will be hugely difficult to ever pull back. In effect, I would argue that entry into EMU would represent an anti-democratic move, one which reduces whatever control the British people have over their own economy. If the Euro Parliament had any power, then it might be reconsidered; however, I would have serious difficulties in terms of the equitability of tying all Governments into a unity monetary (and progressively, a unity fiscal policy). By extension areas on the periphery would suffer relative disadvantage and would need proactive redistributive measures to even out development. Those are just some bourgeois liberal criticisms. From a socialist viewpoint, Brown giving away interest varying powers (justified by preventing neo-Thatcherite playing with the measure in order to secure short-term advantages before elections) was also a retrograde step. This power must be exercised by representatives of the people not economists focussed on maintaining capital exploitation. An example of their twisted logic is the notion that there is an acceptable level of unemployment...In short, giving up your currency would be both short and long-term folly. >but my main point is that that the EU has some progressive features compared to the US, and is a major ally in an alliance against US hegemonism. The EU may be progressive compared to the US but that doesn't mean it's a potential ally. >It aslo has reactionary features, that will continue to have to be combated, and I would not trust it to lead an international campaign. I'm not sure your vision of support for the EU structures will work. My tendency is to use the structures to try to advance a united programme across Europe. They have some use as an organisational and propaganda tool. >Nevertheless progressives should note the contradictions and take advantage >of them. First we need to analyse those contradictions more extensively. Sé _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com
